Page 136 of Family Jewels

He was silent for a moment, but he wasn’t laughing when he said, “Well, I’ll be damned. I was right.”

“Do you agree to the terms?”

“Hell, yeah. I’ll agree if I get to meet withyou, Lady, but at the first sign of trouble, the deal’s off.”

“Agreed.”

When I hung up, the worry in James’ eyes caught me by surprise.

“What?” I asked.

“He’s a little too eager to meet you. I’ll have extra men set up.”

“Not where we meet you won’t. You get two men too. You’ll follow the rules just like we expect them to. I’m gonna need about twenty minutes to get ready. Can we spare it?”

He gave a quick nod and looked away, but damned if I knew what he was thinking.

Once upstairs, I turned on the shower and stripped as the water heated up. I piled my hair on top of my head and took a quick shower. When I got out, the room was steamy, so I left the bathroom door open when I slipped into the room to grab a black lace push-up bra to give me more cleavage in my lower-cut Lady in Black dresses and a pair of black lace panties out of my dresser. I put them on in the bathroom while I waited for the mirror to defog.

I couldn’t ignore the butterflies in my stomach—it was part nerves, but if I was being honest with myself, it was part excitement too. I’d missed Lady, and I wasn’t sure that was such a good thing.

The mirror had defogged enough that I put my hair up in a French twist before I started on my makeup. I’d always worn the veil before, so I’d never given much attention to my eye makeup, but since I planned to wear my trademark black and it was night, I went with a darker, more dramatic look. If Buck Reynolds was eager to meet the Lady in Black, I might as well make it worth his while.

When I finished, I stepped out of the bathroom to figure out which dress to wear when I heard the door creak open.

“Lady, it’s time to—” His words cut off.

I whipped around, resisting the sudden urge to cover myself. Neely Kate and I rarely closed our doors, and I hadn’t expected James to come upstairs, so I’d left the door only partially closed. But now he was standing in my doorway, staring at my half-naked body, and I wasn’t sure what to say. With him looking at me like that, his eyes dark with lust, I wasn’t so sure I could say anything.

From his silence, neither could he.

“We need to go,” he finally said.

“I was just picking out my dress. It’s been a while,” I said, turning back to the closet, pretending like I was used to men seeing me in my underwear.

He walked up behind me. “Do you feel too out of practice? We can call the whole thing off.”

“No,” I said, sliding the hangers across the rod. My Lady in Black dresses were in the back now. “I just need to figure out which one to wear. I feel like it needs to be just right since this will be the first time I’ve done this without a veil.”

His hands found my hips, and I was achingly aware he stood mere inches behind me. “This scares the shit out of me. I can still contain this. I don’t want you to risk yourself.”

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “You mean kill Buck?”

He didn’t respond.

“No.No more killing. I’m committed to seeing this through. If you know me at all, you know that once I commit to something, I don’t just throw in the towel because it’s suddenly inconvenient.”

“This isn’t some minor inconvenience, Rose. This is yourlife. It will never be the same.”

I turned around to face him. “Maybe I don’t want it to be. Maybe that’s a good thing.”

He lifted his hand and lightly cupped my cheek. “You’ve turned my own life completely upside down.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing too.”

He lowered his face to mine, and I was sure he was going to kiss me. I held my breath, the anticipation making my chest tight, but instead he lowered his mouth to my ear. “We need to talk when this is finished.”

“Yes. Agreed.”